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Currently, it is widely reported that the photovoltaic effect in ferroelectric materials can be promoted by the application of a piezoelectric force, an external electric field, and intense light illumination. Here, a semiconducting ferroelectric composition is introduced, (1-x) Ba 0.06 Bi 0.47 Na 0.47 TiO 3 -xMgCoO 3 (abbreviated as xMgCo, where x = 0.02-0.08), synthesized through Mg/Co ions codoping. This process effectively narrows the optical bandgaps to a spectrum of 1.38-3.06 eV. Notably, the system exhibits a substantial increase in short-circuit photocurrent density (J sc ), by the synergy of the electric, light, and thermal fields. The J sc can still be further enhanced by the extra introduction of a force field. Additionally, the J sc also shows an obvious increase after the high field pre-poling. The generation of a considerable number of oxygen vacancies due to the Co 2+ /Co 3+ mixed valence state (in a 1:3 ratio) contributes to the reduced optimal bandgap. The integration of Mg 2+ ion at the A-site restrains the loss and sustains robust ferroelectricity (P r  = 24.1 µC cm -2 ), high polarizability under an electric field, and a significant piezoelectric coefficient (d 33  = 102 pC N -1 ). This study provides a novel perspective on the physical phenomena arising from the synergy of multiple fields in ferroelectric photovoltaic materials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Functional MRI (fMRI) is gaining importance in the preoperative assessment of language for presurgical planning. However, inconsistencies with the Wada test might arise. This current case report describes a very rare case of an epileptic patient who exhibited bilateral distribution (right > left) in the inferior frontal gyrus (laterality index [LI] = -0.433) and completely right dominance in the superior temporal gyrus (LI = -1). However, the Wada test revealed a dissociation: his motor speech was located in the left hemisphere, while he could understand vocal instructions with his right hemisphere. A clinical implication is that the LIs obtained by fMRI should be cautiously used to determine Broca's area in atypical patients; for example, even when complete right dominance is found in the temporal cortex in right-handed patients. Theoretically, as the spatially separated functions of motor speech and language comprehension (by the combined results of fMRI and Wada) can be further temporally separated (by the intracarotid amobarbital procedure) in this case report, these findings might provide direct support to Broca's initial conclusions that Broca's area is associated with acquired motor speech impairment, but not language comprehension per se . Moreover, this current finding supports the idea that once produced, motor speech can be independent from language comprehension., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestThe authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Sulodexide in treating idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) in the Chinese population., Methods: We systematically reviewed all eligible randomized clinical trials (RCTs) conducted in China that investigated the effects of Sulodexide on IMN. Three RCTs published between 2013 and 2022 were included, encompassing a total of 146 patients. The primary outcomes evaluated were changes in urine total protein (UTP), serum albumin (ALB), cholesterol (CHOL), and fibrinogen (FIB) levels., Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in the Sulodexide treatment group compared to the control group for the following parameters: reduction in UTP and CHOL, increase in ALB, and reduction in FIB levels., Conclusion: Sulodexide, when combined with conventional therapy, effectively reduces UTP and CHOL levels, decreases FIB levels, and increases ALB in Chinese patients with IMN., Competing Interests: None., (AJTR Copyright © 2024.)

Background: We aimed to evaluate the accuracy and safety of a novel self-tapping bone fiducial as a registration technique for stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) implantation., Methods: Each patient was installed with five bone fiducial markers. All procedures were performed using the same Sinovation robot system. The accuracy was determined by calculating the target point error (TPE) and the entry point error (EPE) of electrodes., Results: Fourteen patients underwent SEEG implantation surgery; and the average installation time of the markers per patient was 86.1 s. In the operating theatre, the average registration time was 206.6 s, and the average registration error was 0.18 mm. The average TPE of 174 electrodes was 1.98 mm and the average EPE was 0.88 mm., Conclusion: Our study provided a bone fiducial marker installation and registration technique that was convenient and fast, highly accurate in registration, and highly tolerated by patients., (© 2022 The Authors. The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

An imminent challenge of lead-free Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -based (BNT) piezoceramics is that the giant piezoelectric constant ( d 33 ) caused by the morphotropic phase boundary is incompatible with a high depolarization temperature ( T d ) and ultralow temperature coefficient ( T tc ) of the real-time d 33 , which severely hinders their industrial application in the field of elevated temperatures. Herein, a sandwich-structured 0.94Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -0.06BaTiO 3 /0.89Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -0.11BaTiO 3 /0.94Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 TiO 3 -0.06BaTiO 3 (SWS-6/11/6BT- y , where y refers to the weight fraction of the BNT-11BT solid solution) ceramic composite is engineered for mitigating the conflict between d 33 , T d and T tc . Following this strategy, ultrahigh T d near the Curie point (225 °C, close to that of the BNT-11BT layer) and relatively large d 33 (130 pC/N, close to that of the BNT-6BT layer) are simultaneously realized in a SWS-6/11/6BT-40%-Q ceramic composite. More importantly, the ultralow T tc (0.07%) of real-time d 33 is also achieved in this work. The structural heterogeneity yields the high piezoresponse, and the built-in field resulting from layer-type ceramic composites provides the driving force to promote the diffused ferroelectric-relaxor phase transition and the resultant ferroelectric order with high T d . The above synergistic contributions realize the remission of the d 33 - T d - T tc conflict in a sandwich-structural SWS-6/11/6BT-40% ceramic composite. Thus, our work provided a path for designing the BNT-based piezoceramics with potential for industrial applications.

Developing dielectric capacitors with both a high power density and a high energy density for application in power electronics has been a long-standing challenge. Glass-ceramics offer the potential of retaining the high relative permittivity of ceramics and at the same time of exhibiting the high dielectric breakdown strength and fast charge/discharge rate of glasses, thus producing concurrently high power and energy densities in a single material. In this work, glass-ceramics are fabricated to achieve simultaneously high power and energy densities, high efficiency, and thermal stability by tuning the glass crystallization process via a suitable nucleating agent and a high oxygen partial pressure. Under the same practical charge-discharge test conditions, the as-prepared glass-ceramics combine the high energy density of ceramics and ultrafast discharge rate of glasses, producing the highest power density among glass- and ceramic-based dielectric materials. This work demonstrates the significant potential of achieving both high power and energy densities in glass-ceramics by optimizing the glass crystallization process.

Objective: Percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) is a minimally invasive treatment for trigeminal neuralgia (TG) with a favorable cost-effectiveness ratio, but this technique has a steep learning curve. This study presents our initial clinical experience of robot-assisted PBC using a neurosurgical robot on six consecutive patients with TG., Methods: We fixed the patient's head with a skull clamp and connected it with the linkage arms of a Sinovation ® neurosurgical robot, which was then registered using four bone fiducials by the robotic pointer. The puncture needle was positioned at the entry point on the skin using a robotic arm and advanced to the target point after the skin had been incised with a pointed surgical blade. This procedure was repeated for a second trajectory. A balloon was then advanced and inflated using 0.3 ml of a contrast agent. Upon injection of 0.6 ml contrast agent, the ganglion was kept compressed for 120 s. After removal of the balloon and puncture needle, compression of the face was performed to achieve hemostasis., Results: All patients achieved immediate pain relief following PBC. No permanent or severe complications were registered, and there was no pain recurrence in any of the patients during the follow-up period., Conclusions: Despite requiring a longer time for preoperative preparation, robot-assisted PBC provided a high degree of accuracy and safety, and it can also shorten the learning curve for surgeons unfamiliar with PBC. Robot-assisted surgical approaches should be further developed and adopted for PBC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Liu, Wang, Wang, Chen, Chen, Ye, Mao, Zhang and Xu.)

Objective: Our study aimed to develop an approach to improve the speed and resolution of cerebral-hemisphere and lesion modeling and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of robot-assisted surgical planning software., Methods: We applied both conventional robot planning software (method 1) and open-source auxiliary software (FreeSurfer and 3D Slicer; method 2) to model the brain and lesions in 19 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. The patients' mean age at implantation was 21.4 years (range, 6-52 years). Each patient received an average of 12 electrodes (range, 9-16) between May and November 2021. The electrode-implantation plan was designed based on the models established using the two methods. We statistically analyzed and compared the duration of designing the models and planning the implantation using these two methods and performed the surgeries with the implantation plan designed using the auxiliary software., Results: A significantly longer time was needed to reconstruct a cerebral-hemisphere model using method 1 (mean, 206 s) than using method 2 (mean, 20 s) ( p < 0.05). Both methods identified a mean of 1.4 lesions (range, 1-5) in each patient. Overall, using method 1 required longer (mean, 130 s; range, 48-436) than using method 2 (mean, 68.1 s; range, 50-104; p < 0.05). In addition, the clarity of the model based on method 1 was lower than that based on method 2. To devise an electrode-implantation plan, it took 9.1-25.5 min (mean, 16) and 6.6-14.8 min (mean, 10.2) based on methods 1 and 2, respectively ( p < 0.05). The average target point error of 231 electrodes amounted to 1.90 mm ± 0.37 mm (range, 0.33-3.61 mm). The average entry point error was 0.89 ± 0.26 mm (range, 0.17-1.67 mm). None of the patients presented with intracranial hemorrhage or infection, and no other serious complications were observed., Conclusions: FreeSurfer and 3D Slicer-assisted SEEG implantation is an excellent approach to enhance modeling speed and resolution, shorten the electrode-implantation planning time, and boost the efficiency of clinical work. These well-known, trusted open-source programs do not have explicitly restricted licenses. These tools, therefore, seem well suited for clinical-research applications under the premise of approval by an ethics committee, informed consent of the patient, and clinical judgment of the surgeon., Competing Interests: FW was employed by Wuhan Zhongke Industrial Research Institute of Medical Science Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Liu, Wang, Wang, Wei, Zhang, Wei, Ye and Xu.)

Purpose: Skeletal muscle insulin resistance (IR) is an important etiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM); however, its molecular mechanism is yet to be fully defined. This study attempted to identify the gene expression patterns and molecular disorders in T2DM patients' skeletal muscle samples., Methods: First, the difference in genetic expression among GSE25462 data was analyzed. Next, PPI network analysis of differential genes was carried out, after which the maladjustment module was identified. Then, an enrichment analysis and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were carried out. Finally, the transcription factors that regulate the modular genes by raid were predicted., Results: Most differentially expressed genes were found to be able to form an interaction network and cluster into 9 modules. These modular genes were shown to possess a significant correlation with immune inflammation and metabolic response. Importantly, the top 15 genes of area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were identified, and the expression of 10 genes by GSE12643, GSE18732 and GSE29221 was confirmed. The expression and AUC value of ALDH6A1 were then verified according to three sets of data, where ALDH6A1 was found to be negatively correlated with follicular helper T cells. However, among the predicted transcription regulators, HDAC was shown to have a better regulatory effect., Conclusion: The findings highlight that the dysregulation of ALDH6A1 expression in IR of T2DM may serve as a potential therapeutic target. ALDH6A1 is involved in the immune inflammation and metabolic pathways., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest among the authors regarding the publication of this paper., (© 2022 Liu et al.)

In various ferroelectric-based photovoltaic materials after low-band-gap engineering, the process by which high-field polarization induces the depolarizing electric field ( E dp ) to accelerate the electron-hole pair separation in the visible light photocatalytic process is still a great challenge. Herein, a series of semiconducting KN-based ferroelectric catalytic materials with narrow multi-band gaps and high-field polarization capabilities are obtained through the Ba, Ni, and Bi co-doping strategy. Stable E dp caused by high-field poling enhanced the visible photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in a 0.99KN-0.01BNB sample with a narrow band gap and optimal ferroelectricity, which can be 5.4 times higher than that of the unpoled sample. The enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the significant reduction of the band gap and the high-field-polarization-induced E dp . The change in the band position in the poled sample further reveals that high-field poling may accelerate the migration of carriers through band bending. Insights into the mechanism by which catalytic activity is enhanced through high-field-polarization-induced E dp may pave the way for further development of ferroelectric-based catalytic materials in the photocatalytic field.

Esophageal cancer (ESCA), as a common cancer worldwide, is a main cause of cancer-related mortality. Comprehensive studies on molecular mechanism of ESCA have been carried out. Though numerous long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) was reported to participate in the occurrence and development of ESCA, the potential role of lncRNA potassium calcium-activated channel subfamily M regulatory beta subunit 2 (KCNMB2) antisense RNA 1 (KCNMB2-AS1) in ESCA remains to be discovered. This study intends to investigate the detailed function and molecular mechanism of KCNMB2-AS1 in ESCA. Gene expression was evaluated by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Cell proliferation was examined by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and colony formation assay. Cell invasion and migration were measured by wound healing assay and Transwell assay. Luciferase reporter assay was adopted to validate the interaction between KCNMB2-AS1 and miR-3194-3p. Western blotting was performed to assess protein levels. We discovered that KCNMB2-AS1 was significantly upregulated in ESCA. KCNMB2-AS1 downregulation suppressed the growth, invasion, migration and stemness of ESCA cells. KCNMB2-AS1 bound with miR-3194-3p, and glycogen phosphorylase L (PYGL) was a direct target of miR-3194-3p. KCNMB2-AS1 upregulated PYGL expression by directly binding with miR-3194-3p. Additionally, PYGL overexpression abolished the inhibitory influence of KCNMB2-AS1 depletion on ESCA cell behaviors. Collectively, lncRNA KCNMB2-AS1 promotes ESCA development through targeting the miR-3194-3p/ PYGL axis, which might provide theoretical basis to explore novel biomarkers for ESCA treatment.

Environmentally friendly lead-free dielectric ceramics have attracted wide attention because of their outstanding power density, rapid charge/dischargerate, and superior stability. Nevertheless, as a hot material in dielectric ceramic capacitors, the energy storage performance of Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 TiO 3 -based ceramics has been not satisfactory because of their higher remnant polarization value and low dielectric breakdown strength, which is a problem that must be urgently overcome. In this work, the (1 - x ) (0.6Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 TiO 3 - 0.4Sr 0.7 Bi 0.2 TiO 3 ) - x Ba(Mg 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 (BNST- x BMT) systems were designed based on a dual optimization strategy of domain and bandgap to solve the above problems. As a result, a record-breaking ultrahigh energy density and excellent efficiency ( W rec = 8.58 J/cm 3 , η = 93.5%) were obtained simultaneously under 565 kV/cm for the BNST-0.08BMT ceramic. The introduction of Sr 0.7 Bi 0.2 TiO 3 induces the formation of nanodomains in BNT-based ceramics, leading to slim P - E curves, and the further modification of Mg/Ta reduces the grain sizes and increases the bandgap width, resulting in significant enhancement of the dielectric breakdown strength. Moreover, excellent stability and superior discharge performance ( W d = 4.7 J/cm 3 , E = 320 kV/cm) in the BNST-0.08BMT ceramic were also achieved. The results suggest that the BNST-0.08BMT ceramic shows potential applicability for dielectric energy storage ceramics. Simultaneously, the composition-design concept in the system provides a good reference for the further development of ceramic dielectric capacitors.

Salinity-alkalinity stress is a limiting factor in tomato production in the world. Plants perceive salinity-alkalinity stress by activating signaling pathways to increase plant tolerance (Xu et al., 2020). Here, we investigated whether spermine (Spm) induces respiratory burst oxidase homolog 1 (RBOH1) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) signaling in response to salinity-alkalinity stress in tomato. The results showed that exogenous Spm induced the expression of RBOH1 and the accumulation of H 2 O 2 under normal condition. Accordingly, we tested the function of H 2 O 2 signal in tomato seedlings and found that exogenous H 2 O 2 increased the expression levels of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), catalase 1 (CAT1), cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (cAPX), and glutathione reductase 1 (GR1) and the activities of SOD (EC 1.15.1.1), CAT (EC 1.11.1.6), ascorbate peroxidase (APX; EC 1.11.1.11), and GR (EC 1.6.4.2) in tomato seedlings under salinity-alkalinity stress. DMTU increased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and relative electrical conductivity, and the relative water content (RWC), and accelerated leaf yellowing in tomato seedlings under salinity-alkalinity stress, even though we sprayed Spm on tomato leaves. We also found that RBOH1 silencing decreased the expression levels of Cu/Zn-SOD, CAT1, cAPX, and GR1 and the activities of SOD, CAT, APX, and GR when tomato seedlings were under salinity-alkalinity stress. Exogenous Spm did not increase RWC and decrease MDA content in RBOH1 silencing tomato seedlings under salinity-alkalinity stress., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The study tested the function of exogenous spermine (Spm) in resisting salinity-alkalinity stress in tomato seedlings and found that tomato Spm synthase gene (SlSPMS) was involved in this regulation. The tomato seedlings cultivated in normal conditions or salinity-alkalinity conditions were irrigated with 100 ml one strength Hoagland nutrient solution 100 ml mixed solution (5 ml 300 mmol/L NaCl, 45 ml 300 mmol/L Na 2 SO 4 , 45 ml 300 mmol/L NaHCO 3 , and 5 ml 300 mmol/L Na 2 CO 3 (pH = 8.90)) every 2 days, respectively. The 0.5 mM Spm pretreatment improved superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1) activity, catalase (CAT; EC 1.11.1.6) activity, ascorbate peroxidase (APX; EC 1.11.1.11) activity, and glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1.6.4.2) activity and decreased endogenous hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) content, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and relative electrical conductivity (REC) in tomato leaves. Na + content declined and K + concentration rose in tomato seedlings when pre-treated with Spm. However the results showed that under salinity-alkalinity stress, silencing of SlSPMS with virus-induced gene silencing had lower antioxidant enzyme activities and higher Na + content and lower K + content than normal tomato seedlings, meaning that they had low salinity-alkalinity tolerance. Exogenous Spm could not reconstruct the tolerance to salinity-alkalinity stress in SlSPMS gene-silencing tomato seedlings. Taken together, exogenous Spm could induce the expression level of SlSPMS, which regulated the antioxidant enzyme system and ion homeostasis in tomato seedlings living in salinity-alkalinity environment, thereby improving the ability of tomato seedlings to resist salinity-alkalinity stress., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: Glioma-related epilepsy (GRE) is defined as symptomatic epileptic seizures secondary to gliomas, it brings both heavy financial and psychosocial burdens to patients with diffuse glioma and significantly decreases their quality of life. To date, there have been no clinical guidelines that provide recommendations for the optimal diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for GRE patients., Methods: In March 2017, the Joint Task Force for GRE of China Association Against Epilepsy and Society for Neuro-Oncology of China launched the guideline committee for the diagnosis and treatment of GRE. The guideline committee conducted a comprehensive review of relevant domestic and international literatures that were evaluated and graded based on the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence, and then held three consensus meetings to discuss relevant recommendations. The recommendations were eventually given according to those relevant literatures, together with the experiences in the diagnosis and treatment of over 3000 GRE cases from 24 tertiary level hospitals that specialize in clinical research of epilepsy, glioma, and GRE in China., Results: The manuscript presented the current standard recommendations for the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of GRE., Conclusions: The current work will provide a framework and assurance for the diagnosis and treatment strategy of GRE to reduce complications and costs caused by unnecessary treatment. Additionally, it can serve as a reference for all professionals involved in the management of patients with GRE., (© 2019 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: The present study assessed the most common types of lead failures, identified the causes, and discussed the potential procedures for revision surgery after vagus nerve stimulator implantation in patients with epilepsy., Methods: In a retrospective study during an 8-year period, 13 patients had undergone revision surgery because of lead failure. Lead failure was classified as either lead intrinsic damage or lead pin disengagement from the generator header. On the radiographic image, we defined a rear lead connector (RC) ratio that represented the portion of the rear lead connector in the header receptacle. It was used to quantitatively evaluate the mechanical failure of the lead-header interface. The optimal procedures to identify and manage lead failure were established., Results: All 13 patients presented with high lead impedance of ≥9 kOhms at the time of revision. Of 10 patients with lead damage, 7 had presented with an increased seizure frequency after a period of seizure remission. In contrast to lead damage occurring relatively late (>15 months), lead pin disengagement was usually found within the early months after device implantation. A significant association was found between an elevated RC ratio (≥35%) and lead pin disengagement. The microsurgical technique permitted removal or replacement of the lead without adverse effects., Conclusions: The method of measuring the RC ratio developed in the present study is feasible for identifying lead disengagement at the generator level. Lead revision was an effective and safe procedure for patients experiencing lead failure., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)